Page 291 - Neglected Arabia (1906-1910)

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They know not the God of Love. Are you and I doing our utmost
to bring the knowledge of our God into their lives by our money, our
prayers, or our example?
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OUR PRIVATIONS.

MISS MIN NIK WILTKROINK.
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:• •• vV The picture a person forms in his imagination of new scenes or
of a new life very seldom agrees with the actual facts. The new
missionary very soon learns that anticipations are not realities and
that there is usually disappointment in store; what was not expected i
*. is found to exist and what was expected is not.
Knowing that life in uncivilized, heathen lands means incon­
veniences, discomforts, hardships, self-denials, and, it may be, persecu­ i
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tions, the new recruit has endeavored to count the cost, and come with
a firm resolve to endure these hardships as a good soldier of Jesus
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Christ. Coming to the field, ready to bear with cheerfulness and
grace all these expected hardships, the revelation of things as they are
comes as a distinct surprise and it almost seems a disappointment to
find there is so little of the disagreeable or the unpleasant to be
endured, as far as personal comfort is concerned. I
Speaking of the privations of missionary life, first thoughts
generally turn to his physical discomforts, such as unattractive dwell­
ings and surroundings, disagreeable food and drink, unpleasant sights
and sounds, the trying climate, prevalence of sickness and disease, and
a general lack of creature comforts. All of these exist in a greater
or less degree, and particularly so for the pioneer. P.ut as the years
go by and the work progresses, improvements are constantly made.
The interest of the friends at home in the physical welfare of their
missionaries, their eagerness to lighten the burden, and their loving
thoughtfulness to bring ail possible sunshine and brightness into
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isolated lives, are constantly providing better things. Of this, the
pleasant and commodious mission houses in Bahrein and Muscat are
an evidence, and each year brings added comforts.
Further, the new missionary learns to adjust himself to new
methods and ways of living, for, after all, our manner of living is but
a surface matter. The things thought so necessary at home are, after
a few denials, no longer deemed essential to happiness. And so,
also, the absence of dear ones and friends, though it will ever remain
a sacrifice, has its bright side. Distance cannot separate us from their
love, interest, or prayers. These are with us every moment, to help
and encourage us. And the new life brings new friendships, both in
the mission circle and among the native helpers and the converts.
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